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While "progressive bluegrass" might sound like an oxymoron, it's a good description of this dynamic acoustic trio's approach. Fans of traditional string-band music might flinch at Nickel Creek's experimentation, but there is little doubt that the threesome has attracted the largest crossover audience to the genre since Jerry Garcia. Still, the rigors of working together since they were teens have prompted an open-ended sabbatical at the end of their 2007 tour. Cue the Christmas 2006 hits package--it's the perfect time to cash in on the catalog with the band still hot as an active unit. Since Nickel Creek has recorded just three albums for Sugar Hill, it does seem a bit premature for this recap. But the label has done an admirable job by adding a bonus DVD of the act's seven videos and arranging the audio tracks in non-chronological order to enhance the flow. If anyone had any doubts that these youngsters were the future of bluegrass, Reasons Why should erase them. They never let their instrumental virtuosity on guitar, fiddle, and mandolin get in the way of writing terrific material such as "When in Rome"--a should-have-been hit on the order of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion"--and they also deliver the goods in concert. A nine-minute live version of "The Fox"--one of two previously unreleased performances that close this collection--proves they can mash up Bach, Bill Monroe, and Dylan with such cool aplomb, one can only imagine what the future holds. Until then, we have this compact reminder of Nickel Creek's strengths and potential--a superb collection that is as classy and challenging as the group itself, and leaves the listener wanting more. --Hal Horowitz

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The Grammy Award–winning, multi-platinum selling trio Nickel Creek—Chris Thile (mandolin/vocals), Sara Watkins (fiddle/vocals), and Sean Watkins (guitar/vocals)—officially reunites for the first time since its 2007 self-described “indefinite hiatus” with a new album, A Dotted Line, on April 1, 2014. The band then tours the US in support of the Eric ... Read more in Amazon's Nickel Creek Store

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When Nickel Creek announced their separation in August 2006, many fans were in agony. This collection clearly demonstrates why. Their music is wholly original and unique, based on bluegrass/new acoustic instrumentation with rock and jazz influences and technical virtuosity, a combination not found in any other current band. This collection displays all their strengths in a single disc format, concluding with a phenomenal demonstration of their musical abilities in a live setting.

I have never seen a greatest hits collection that fans believe wholly captures their favorite band's abilities, and the same can obviously be said about "Reasons Why." Despite this, the collection gathers both "greatest hits" and songs that give an overview of their abilities. Interestingly, the track listing is not sequential, likely to provide shifts in moods and feels; selections from the first CD are more gentle while those from their most recent one are heavier, so placing them out of order gives the sound more variety. However, it also takes away from the obvious growth of the band in the 5 years between "Nickel Creek" and "Why Should the Fire Die?" Imagine a Beatles greatest hits that juxtaposes "All My Loving" with "Strawberry Fields" before returning to "A Hard Day's Night." It's harder to see the musical progression of the band and appreciate how far they came in a short time.

What this collection offers is the gorgeous harmonies of "Out of the Woods," the instrumental excellence of "Smoothie Song," the pop accesibility of "This Side," the loveliness of "When You Come Back Down," and the songwriting sophistication of "helena.Read more ›

Playing Time - 64:52 (plus seven videos) -- Dreamy acoustic textures .... few bands weave their musical fabric with tonal colors as dynamically as Nickel Creek does with their mandolin, fiddle, guitar, bass and vocals. Once upon a time, long long ago in a place called San Diego, a novelty "kid band" (with Sean and Sara Watkins, Chris and Scott Thile) chose their group's name based on fiddle tune written by Byron Berline about a ranch in Texas. The band got its first national television exposure on the Statler Brothers Show (TNN) in 1997, and by 2000 they had won IBMA's Emerging Artist of the Year Award.

Twelve "best of" tracks have beene chosen from their three previous albums, and two additional live performance tracks complete the audio portion of this project. We're also treated to all seven of their videos on a separate DVD. After their 2001 album received two Grammy nominations, their fanciful acoustic folk-pop earned them a mention in Time magazine as among the 100 "Innovators of the Year." Their 2003 album ("This Side") won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album and subsequently went gold.

More recently, their "Why Should the Fire Die?" album further established their adventurous approach to music that knows no confines. To develop a signature sound that listeners can immediately identify as Nickel Creek takes an enlightened and inspired convergence of musicianship and innovation. Most of their music is original, but some of their "very best of" tracks come from others - Carrie Newcomer, Sinead Lohan, Keith Whitley, and Tim O'Brien & Danny O'Keefe. Falling squarely into an Americana format, their keen multicolored kaleidoscope features perfectly blended vocals wrapped around elegant instrumentation in ornate arrangements.Read more ›

Unlike some of the earlier posts, I am not a professionl musician and not so knowledgeable of other musical groups of the genre as to attempt to qualitatively distinguish Nickel Creek from anyone else. I can only say that, based on my several decades as a music lover, Nickel Creek is suis generis in combining individual instrumental virtuosity, song writing ability, vocal agility, and genuine humility into a pristine musical package. I discovered Nickel Creek quite by accident last August on AT&T's Blue Room where streaming video was being provided of their appearance at Booneroo O6 in Tennessee where they performed "Somebody More Like You," "Scotch and Chocolate," and "The Fox" (with some great clogging by their bass player, Mark Schatz, and Chris thrown in for good measure). It was love at first sight and I have become an avid "Creeker" ever since. The "Reasons Why: The Very Best" CD duplicates some the the "Why Should the Fire Die" pieces that I own but also provides some of their great earlier works that I don't own and it is a cherished addition to my music collection. However, the DVD of the seven videos the group has made is,to me, alone worth twice the price of both the CD and DVD. The seven musical vignettes on the DVD demonstrate not only the abundance and diversity of Nickel Creek's talent and range but also the outstanding creativity of those at Sugar Hill responsible for producing it.

This CD/DVD set is the final chapter overview for Nickel Creek. Its members are now young adults. Of the 3, no doubt Chris Thile will forge a career, if he chooses, that will be as memorable as some of his mentors, viz Mike Marshall and Mark O'Connor.

This set is a great taste of a wonderful collective. God bless them all in future: good music, good souls and wonderful musical fellowship.